Thursday Q & A: The Daybreak Doppler Godfather, Dan Walsh

Our guest for this week is the person who is largely responsible, although not intentionally, for not only the Thursday Q & A (in a roundabout way) but also the Daybreak Doppler, Dan Walsh. Dan was the engineer of the now deceased Sports Bubbler site and also the progenitor to the Daybreak Doppler, the Daily Drink. Accordingly, we here at PocketDoppler.com refer to Dan as The Godfather, as he paved the way for many of the things you see on this site daily. Let’s see what Dan’s been up to lately, shall we?

So share with us what you’ve been up to since the demise of The Sports Bubbler.

2. Why am I even being ask to do this? I’m barely a D-lister in the sports community. I’m a nobody.

Now, back to your question: since the Bubbler got flushed, I’ve been a jack of all trades, master of none. Remember all those Xs & Os with LeRoy Butler videos on JSOnline? I shot and edited those. I’m working on a pretty cool JSOnline project that should launch in late April. Basically, if there is work to be done, they’ll find away to assign that work to me.

What’s the one thing you miss most about The Sports Bubbler & then one thing you’re happy to say you don’t have to mess with anymore not doing the Sports Bubbler?

I miss being part of the sports news cycle every day. I miss fighting to get the SportsBubbler name out there every single day. I miss e-mails from people saying how much they love the website.

I don’t miss getting up at 4am to write the Daily Drink. I don’t miss having to fight for the simplest of things for our site.

I can’t tell you how proud I was when the guys at Bernie’s Crew broke the Zach Greinke trade. It took a trade like that for some people to even know they existed, even within the people who work for JSOnline.

How did you get working with the guys from Anonymous Eagle?

I started working with the guys from Anonymous Eagle purely by chance. They were the guys behind Quevedo at the Buffet. One time I noticed one of the guys talking about Nebraska football. Turns out he was also from Nebraska and an MU alum living in MKE. Plus, Rubie had done a couple of posts for/was friends with Kyle from BrewCrewBall so I just started chatting with him. At the time of the demise of Bubbler, Rubie was working with SB Nation to develop a Marquette-devoted blog, and he begged me to come on board. After several weeks, I relented. It allowed me to keep doing a Daily Drink type column 1-2 times a week, so I figured: why not?

Been meaning to ask you this for a while, so may as well use the space to do so. Where did the Admiral Ackbar ‘gloss’ come from?

I’d love to take credit for it, but I’m not that creative. It was the brainchild of Rubie Q, who likes to point out the physical resemblance of Marquette’s president, Fr. Robert Wild, and Admiral Ackbar. (Seriously: Google it. Uncanny.) He mentioned it once and I demanded it as compensation for joining AE. I mean, I loved Star Wars like the rest of the world. Adding the S.J. was a nice touch being I went to a Jesuit high school and college.

Anyone that knows you, or is willing to listen, knows you’re originally from Nebraska and also a big fan of their college sports teams. How excited are you to see the Cornhuskers joining The Big Ten?

As someone who has been living in Big Ten country for the past 17 years, I absolutely love it. I’ve spent so much money at bars or on PPV watching the Huskers, so I’m really going to enjoy watching the games on the Big 10 network. Ames was the closest Big 12 location, and Ames is a dump so there was never a desire for a road trip. Now I have plenty of places within a couple hours: Madison, Minneapolis, Evanston, Champaign, West Layfayette. Now, so long as we don’t talk Huskers basketball, I’m good – although Doc Sadler is closer to turning around Nebraska than Tom Crean is to turning around Indiana.

Where do you see the Cornhuskers football team ending up in their first year as a Big Ten member?

The fan in me says they win the whole damn thing. The realistic person in me believes that the hiring of a new Offensive Coordinator and the possibility of having a new starting QB for the fifth straight season is going to limit this team. The defense will be spectacular. Bo Pelini will never have a terrible defense. Ever. Either way, I’ll be in Madison on October 1 st . No way in hell I miss that.

So let’s talk about Marquette, which you are an alum of. It hasn’t been an entirely great season for the Golden Eagles. Do you put this on the shoulders of the players or head coach Buzz Williams?

Great season? I mean, unless you make the Final Four, does any team really have a great season? Most teams have either a disappointing season (no NCAA) or a good season (NCAA). Marquette is dancing. All things considered I’m pretty happy with what Buzz has done so far. Just keep making trips to the NCAA and everyone is happy.

Lots of people like to bring up the JUCOs. It comes down to the fact that when Crean left, so did a bunch of players: Tyshawn Taylor, Trevor Mbakwe, Scott Christopherson, all of whom are starting at BCS schools. He also lost Pat Hazel and Nick Williams. So Buzz lost five scholarship players and had to fill the void, after most players had already committed. Buzz had a choice: he could either use the JUCOs as a stop gap or bring in a bunch of HS freshman that would have MU playing at DePaul-type level. I have no problems with the choice he made.

What’s something that Marquette fans can look at this season as something to hold on to as a bright spot & look forward to for the future?

Junior, Jae, DJO and Otule are all returning next season. Oregon transfer and Racine native Jamil Wilson will look to jump in and have an immediate impact. Erik Williams is seeing more playing time. Plus with incoming Freshman Juan Anderson and Derek Wilson, there is plenty to look forward to next season for Marquette basketball.

Does Marquette make the NCAA Tourney, and if so, how far can they realistically go?

Damn right they make the NCAA Tournament. How far do they go? No idea. It’s always a crapshoot, just ask Badgers fans about Davidson and Cornell. I don’t think Marquette’s defense is good enough to get them terribly far, but their offense can potential cause lots of teams problems. It’s all about the match up. In other words, I have no idea.

Moving away from college hoops & to the Brewers, what are your expectations for the 2011 squad?

I expect the Brewers to win the division or at least make the playoffs. I mean, they’re going “all-in,” and if that doesn’t result in a playoff appearance, Doug Melvin is going to be unemployed. You can’t make a trade of that magnitude and not have high expectations.

Should I ever run into you at a bar, I should buy you a _____________ for taking the time to answer these questions.

Irish coffee. Without caffeine, I’d fall asleep at the bar in five minutes. Having a kid will do that to you. If I drink a beer, I would never turn down a Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale

And with that, it’s another wrap to a Thursday Q & A. Thanks to Dan for joining us this week. You can catch Dan’s Marquette thoughts at Anonymous Eagle and as he mentioned above, his children’s music reviews at MilwaukeeMoms.com . If you’re looking for a more intimate connection, give Dan a follow on Twitter which will sure to fun reading next college football season.

Would you like to be the guest for a PocketDoppler.com Thursday Q & A? Let us know!

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Chris

Glad to see Dan featured. He’s a great guy, even with all that Nebraska/Marquette stuff. He is, indeed, The Godfather.

One comment on substance: I think Doug Melvin has held up his end of the deal. He got the Brewers the pieces they needed to win. Now it’s on the team. Regardless of how this season comes out, he shouldn’t be on the hot seat. If anything, he’s proven this off-season why the Brewers are lucky to have him.

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